I'm Not A Hollywood Type, I Just Work There:
An Evening with Dan Curry

by William S. Kowinski

If Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry is holding out any hope of a reprieve for Star Trek:Enterprise, he was keeping it to himself when he spoke to a university audience on Friday night (February 25.)

At about the same time that its latest episode, " Divergence," was being seen locally, Curry was on a theatre stage describing how he had begun working on Star Trek's second incarnation---the pilot of "The Next Generation"-which he thought would be a four month job.

"And 18 years later, I'm working on the final episode of Star Trek," Curry said. "With the political machinations of studios and dwindling ratings, the saga of Star Trek for the moment is drawing to a close. So we're all going through a bittersweet period of facing the excitement of a new adventure, but kind of waving goodbye to a group of people that has become family for us over the years."

Later in his talk, Curry noted that the four seasons of Enterprise were "just enough to make it an attractive syndication package, so it will begin to bring negotiable currency to Paramount Pictures."

In a conversation we had after his presentation, Curry added that even though many were looking for their next jobs, they were all still determined to make the remaining episodes as good as they possibly can be.

Curry wouldn't tell me anything about the final episode, which he said was being kept super-secret, and had started shooting that day. He expected to be finished with his post-production work in late April. But he did suggest there would likely be a 40th anniversary Star Trek TV special, and perhaps another documentary that focuses on effects over the years.

As for his own feelings about Enterprise, when asked from the audience which of the Star Trek series was his favorite to work on (and he's worked on them all since TNG) he said, "I think Enterprise, for a number of reasons. It's set earlier in time so things are little more rough and tumble, it's really a fun cast to work with, and over time the relationship of the cast and the crew members has evolved to the point where we are like family. So it's the most emotionally satisfying just because of the quality of the people I work with."

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